A Judges’ Union?

This almost sounds like a joke-a State Supreme Court justice has suggested that he and his colleagues ought to join a union in order to extract a wage increase from the state. Are you laughing yet? Well, consider this-the judge, Arthur Schack, is talking about joining the United Federation of Teachers.

If you’re not laughing, you’re probably weeping. And with good reason. The UFT is, of course, a paragon of all that a union should not be. It objects to progressive change. It protects incompetents. And it stands in the way of authentic educational reform.

Imagine how the UFT would react when one of its prospective members is called on the carpet for displays of injudicious temperament, or for wildly inappropriate rulings. Perhaps the union’s leaders would demand a rubber room in the state’s courts, so incompetent judges could continue to collect their wages while doing nothing.

The state’s judges make $136,700 a year and haven’t received a wage increase in more than a decade. They deserve an increase.